Early diagnosis plea on World Aids day
UN marks World Aids day with appeal for international donors to help it fund early HIV/Aids testing
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Monday, 01, Dec 2008 08:01
The United Nations is appealing for international donors to help it fund early HIV/Aids testing it says could save millions of lives.
Thirty-three million people are living with HIV in the world today and the UN says it wants to use World Aids day to highlight the importance of early testing and treatment.
A combined report from the United Nation's Children's Fund (Unicef), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) says the majority of infants in the developing world are not tested for the virus until they are 18 months.
Last year less than ten per cent of infants born to HIV-positive mothers were tested before they were two months old.
But Unicef says a new test, dubbed the dry blood spot (DBS) test could spot the virus at six weeks, enabling infants to undergo treatments of life-saving retrovial drugs.
DBS testing involves taking a small drop of blood from the infant, drying it for 24 hours, and then taking it to a lab which has a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine to test and within two weeks the baby could have its results. No cold chain is required.
Unicef UK's chief executive David Bull said: "Without treatment, half of all children with HIV will die by their second birthday. But if they are diagnosed and put on treatment within their first 12 weeks of live, survival rates are 75 per cent higher. Early diagnosis can save lives."
Mr Bull added that if the world way to achieve the goal of universal access to treatment by 2010 $72.4 billion worth of donations will be needed over the next two years.